Daily Police Blotter

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Here's a daily list of recent activities drawing the attention of North Texas law enforcement. List compiled on Aug. 14, 2009.

Spike in McKinney Car Break-ins

In the past 30 days, McKinney has had more than 140 car burglaries. Thieves aren’t striking at any particular time or neighborhood. "Somebody come in through the back window which was not locked and stole a little gym bag,” said Hank James of McKinney. It’s been a long month for officers in McKinney’s Police department trying to keep up with car burglars. Recently released home surveillance video of some criminals in action shows just how quick and effortless it is for them to disappear with your belongings. “The security lighting comes on it doesn't startle them one bit, “said Lieutenant Scott Brewer, “these are folks who have done this on a very regular basis.” Police call them crimes of opportunity, so McKinney started a new LOCK, TAKE AND HIDE educational initiative to inform residents how best to protect their property.

76 HORSES RESCUEDAnimal control officers are seizing 76 emaciated horses from a ranch near the North Texas town of Pilot Point.Denton County Sheriff's spokesman Tom Reedy says the horses are being moved Friday to a nearby ranch after they were found in various stages of starvation. That's despite bales of high-quality hay on the property. He added that deputies acting on an anonymous tip also found stalls filthy with feces and urine. Reedy said the ranch resembled "a concentration camp for horses."Reedy says the owner, Gordon Dennis Key, will be arrested on charges of cruelty to livestock. Calls to Key's home by The Associated Press met with repeated busy signals. Pilot Point is 43 miles northwest of Dallas.

MAN ARRESTED IN OVER NIGHT OAK CLIFF HOME ROBBERYDallas police are investigating a home robbery that occurred early Friday morning in Oak Cliff. Police arrived at the home at 210 Barnett Avenue and found a family of seven all bound with tape. Two of the victims had been assaulted and were treated on the scene by paramedics. The man believed to have committed the robbery was arrested about six miles away from the home invasion site on an unrelated traffic stop in the victim's stolen vehicle, police said. Detectives are investigating.

POLICE LOOKING FOR TWO MEN ACCUSED OF ROBBING JEWELRY STOREMesquite police are searching for two gunmen that robbed the Lloyds Jewelry Store at Town East Mall shortly after 6 p.m. on Thursday. The two men entered the store and pointed a handgun at the merchant ordering him to the floor, police said. The men then filled a gym bag with jewelry from display cases and fled the store. Both men were described as black, in their mid-20s. The first one was approximately 6 foot 2 inches tall and weighed about 230 pounds. He was wearing a long-sleeved orange, black and white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, black shorts, a baseball cap and sunglasses. He had multiple tattoos on both arms. The second man was approximately 6 feet tall and 190 pounds. He was wearing a brown shirt, black shorts, a red hat and sunglasses. Anyone with information about this robbery is asked to call the Mesquite Police Department at 972-216-6759.

STRING OF BREAK-INS BLAMED ON LOCAL TEENAGER
Two Aledo teenagers were arrested for committing a string of break-ins in the same neighborhood one of the boys lives in. The 17-year-old suspect, Sherman Miers who confessed to the crimes said his memory is fuzzy because he was using drugs. Read more on the teen burglar here.

PLANO GIRL ASSISTS POLICE BY CALLING 911
A Plano girl assisted police in catching two burglary suspects after the men were arrested outside her home Wednesday night. The girl was home alone with her younger sister at around 3 a.m. when two men burst through the back door of their house. The girl called police and when they arrived and the men ran out of the home. A short time later, officers arrested Brandon Strait and Kevin Neoland in connection with the break-in.